Explorations in Japanese sociolinguistics

"Explorations in Japanese Sociolinguistics provides a treasure of information on the Japanese language and the social and cultural system it has developed and is embedded in. To the non-specialist, it opens an unknown world. To the specialist it offers theoretical and methodological perspectives aimed at avoiding the interference of myth and musing with accurate characterizations. A genral introduction on Japanses sociolingstics is followed by two case studies, one on the ethnography of ritual and address at a Japanese wedding reception, and one on pragmatics of Japanese donatory verbs. The final chapter discusses cross-cultural contrasts and the danger of semiotic schism in Japanese-Western interactions."--Page [4] of cover.